Dan Mullen's emotions were on display, as usual, in UF's huge rally Saturday against South Carolina. (Photo: Tim Casey/UAA Communications)
Momentum To Be Had in Home Finale, 'Senior Day' vs Idaho
Monday, November 12, 2018 | Football, Chris Harry
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By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Steve Spurrier had only been in his office a few minutes Monday morning and already was breaking down Florida's weekend win over South Carolina. Biggest play of the game, the Head Ball/Ambassador Coach said, and he couldn't believe no one was talking about it.
"The tipped pass," Spurrier said. "Think about it."
Yes, let's.
The Gators trailed the Gamecocks by 17 Saturday with inside four minutes to play in the third quarter and faced a third-and-8 at their own 37. The shotgun snap sailed over the head of quarterback Feleipe Franks, who gathered the ball and in desperation scrambled to his right. With nothing working downfield, and pressure coming from the USC defense, Franks tried to force a throw into double (or was it triple?) coverage in the direction of wideout Trevon Grimes. The ball caromed into the air off the hands of Gators tight end Kemore Gamble and Grimes plucked it for — get this — a nine-yard gain.
The play represented a rare, albeit short, vertical completion (most of UF's pass connections to that point were screens or quick-hitters on the edge) and a first down that no one could have foreseen as a turning point of the game. By accident.
"The whole game changed after that," Spurrier said. "You just never know."
But from that play on, Florida outgained South Carolina 243 yards to just 36 and put three touchdowns on the board to no points for the visitors on the way to a 35-31 victory, the Gators' biggest comeback home victory in 18 years. The win broke a two-game skid for the Gators (7-3), quieted some of the noise in the system that had been been rumbling the last couple weeks, and put a much better pregame spin on Saturday's home finale and "Senior Day" sendoff against Idaho (4-6) at the "Swamp."
"Watching it, it was pretty much a busted play all the way around," UF coach Dan Mullen said Monday of the odd-but-game-turning completion. "When you have good players, the ball tends to bounce your way more when you go hard. … Getting the first down there was critical for us. It's hard to say that play changed the game, but that first down in that situation did."
And so, ultimately, did the narrative for the 2018 season. Imagine if Grimes doesn't catch that ball. Instead of a 75-yard touchdown march, the Gators likely punt, very likely lose the game, the negativity continues to swirl, and the run-up to a a non-conference season-ender against a foe from 2,000 miles away (not to mention the game-day crowd) is considerably less enthusiastic.
Instead, though, Florida has some things to build on, including the dangling carrot for a potential 10-win season and the feel-good sense of a great comeback. Along the way, the Gators were reminded against the Gamecocks how good their running game can be, churning out 367 yards and a couple triple-digit rushers in Jordan Scarlett (159 yards) and Lamical Perine (107, 2 TDs).
Meanwhile, a defense that was gutted for 241 yards and 21 points in the first half, adjusted, settled in, found some pressure to put on the quarterback, and allowed just 36 yards over those final 16 minutes.
As such, the mood will be much better for Martez Ivey, Cece Jefferson, Tyler Jordan and the rest of the 20-member senior class that will be honored Saturday.
Some of those seniors might find it hard to believe it's all coming to an end. It wasn't even a year ago that Mullen was climbing off a small jet, doing the Gator chomp and ready to take over the program.
"One of the first team meetings, [I said], 'If everybody buys in, the sooner we win. If the seniors want to win, then buy in. As soon as everyone buys in, we have the opportunity to win. And you don't unless that happens.' And I think the guys understood it," Mullen said. "I've had a couple seniors say -- [and] I think it's a tremendous compliment -- 'Coach, I wish we had you here for more of my career. I wish the program was this way for more than one year.' Or, 'I wish I could come back and have another year to be part of the program again.' I think those are really great compliments."
Feleipe Franks embraces all-purpose back Kadarius Toney after the latter scored on an 18-yard touchdown pass late in the third quarter Saturday. (Photo: Matt Stamey/UAA Communications)
They're rooted in moments like the one the players enjoyed in the aftermath of the South Carolina game versus, say, the week before against Missouri.,
"It's a lot funner when you're winning," Franks said.
Junior wideout Josh Hammond: "We played four quarters of football and we never let go of that rope."
Now comes Idaho, an FCS opponent out of the Big Sky Conference. Coached by Paul Petrino, the younger brother of former Louisville coach Bobby Petrino, the Vandals are 3-5 in league play and have some lopsided losses along the way: 79-13 at Fresno State; 44-21 at California-Davis; 62-28 at Idaho State; 46-27 at home Saturday against Montana.
Quarterback Mason Petrino, the head coach's son, has completed 62 percent of his passes for 1,863 yards, 14 touchdowns and six interceptions. Tailback Isaiah Saunders is at 878 yards rushing and six touchdowns on the season. Defensively, Idaho ranks 94th among the classification's 125 teams in yards surrendered per game (440.8) and 100th in points allowed (34.9). The Vandals' best defensive player is linebacker Kaden Elliss, son of former NFL standout Luther Elliss, who also takes some snaps at tight end.
For UF, wide receiver and kick returner Freddie Swain is expected back after missing the USC game, while offensive guard Brett Heggie figures to be a game-day decision. Both had ankle sprains. Brad Stewart, with a quad strain, will be questionable.
The Gators hope to carry over the momentum of their most recent 16 minutes in and continue to build on things they're doing well, as they head toward the regular-season finale at Florida State, a game that figures to loom large for the usual reasons, but also relative to what bowl game ultimately comes calling.
Every play will matter. Even fluke ones — like the Franks-to-Grimes tip drill — that lead to touchdown drives; multiple touchdown drives, in fact.
"If I'm not mistaken, from that point on — and that's when you see the stats go in [UF's favor] — we didn't have any self-inflicted penalties, any self-inflicted problems on offense," Mullen said. "The point is, what if we didn't do self-inflicted stuff the whole day? Would the whole day have been that way? And if we can execute at a high level, look at what we can accomplish when we're not shooting ourselves in the foot."
Such wasn't the case the last time out.
And then, as Spurrier has been known to say, God smiled on the Gators.
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